Sarasota considering creation of a domestic registry

Published: Sunday, July 1, 2012 at 2:39 p.m.

Last Modified: Sunday, July 1, 2012 at 2:39 p.m.

SARASOTA - Following a recent trend among Florida cities like Tampa and Orlando, Sarasota could be the next to extend more rights to gay and domestic partners.

Facts

WHAT IT MEANS

Under a domestic partnership registry, unmarried couples who live together can:

• Make some health care decisions and hospital visitation

• Make funeral and burial decisions

• Visit each other in jails

• Receive emergency notifications about loved ones

• Participate in the education of a shared dependent

Rights afforded to married couples — such as the right to make some medical decisions or visit loved ones in hospitals, jails and schools — would be guaranteed to unmarried couples who live together if Sarasota adopts a proposed domestic partner registry.

City commissioners are set to take the first step toward a registry today when they hear a presentation from the city attorney about how registries have worked elsewhere.

If commissioners vote to draft an ordinance, a public hearing would be held in coming weeks before a registry could be created.

Despite a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage and civil unions in Florida, local registries have taken off in recent years thanks to an attorney general opinion that allows them.

In Florida, there are now nine cities and five counties that have adopted registries — seven in the last year.

"In Florida, it's almost like a wildfire," said Ken Shelin, a former city commissioner who lobbied the commission in May to consider a registry here.

Support for registries has grown not just among gay couples but straight couples who have not married for personal or financial reasons, Shelin said.

He points to the recent Census that found many domestic partners are not gay.

"I know that some people think that there's a hidden agenda here — that there's a gay agenda," Shelin said. "But 90 percent of domestic partners are opposite sex."

A registry also can benefit couples who do not live in the city, as seen in Tampa, which was the first community in the broader region to enact a registry when city commissioners adopted the measure in March. Several of the 50 couples who have applied in the time since live out of town, but used hospitals or schools in the city, the Tampa clerk's office said.

Symbolic olive branch

A Sarasota ordinance has not yet been drafted, City Attorney Robert Fournier said, but supporters are pushing to mirror an ordinance after one passed in Orlando last year.

Much of the ordinance would be a symbolic olive branch — a recognition of domestic partners by the government — which progressive couples have lobbied for across the nation.

Many of the rights that would be delineated in the ordinance — hospital visitation, for example — already are afforded by a federal executive order or other means, Fournier said.

"Really in these local ordinances, I think probably the federal provision is going to achieve the same result," he said.

But a registry could make it easier for non-married couples to enforce their rights because the law would provide for individuals to sue in court.

<p><em>SARASOTA</em> - Following a recent trend among Florida cities like Tampa and Orlando, Sarasota could be the next to extend more rights to gay and domestic partners.</p><p>Rights afforded to married couples — such as the right to make some medical decisions or visit loved ones in hospitals, jails and schools — would be guaranteed to unmarried couples who live together if Sarasota adopts a proposed domestic partner registry.</p><p>City commissioners are set to take the first step toward a registry today when they hear a presentation from the city attorney about how registries have worked elsewhere.</p><p>If commissioners vote to draft an ordinance, a public hearing would be held in coming weeks before a registry could be created.</p><p>Despite a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage and civil unions in Florida, local registries have taken off in recent years thanks to an attorney general opinion that allows them.</p><p>In Florida, there are now nine cities and five counties that have adopted registries — seven in the last year.</p><p>"In Florida, it's almost like a wildfire," said Ken Shelin, a former city commissioner who lobbied the commission in May to consider a registry here.</p><p>Support for registries has grown not just among gay couples but straight couples who have not married for personal or financial reasons, Shelin said.</p><p>He points to the recent Census that found many domestic partners are not gay.</p><p>"I know that some people think that there's a hidden agenda here — that there's a gay agenda," Shelin said. "But 90 percent of domestic partners are opposite sex."</p><p>A registry also can benefit couples who do not live in the city, as seen in Tampa, which was the first community in the broader region to enact a registry when city commissioners adopted the measure in March. Several of the 50 couples who have applied in the time since live out of town, but used hospitals or schools in the city, the Tampa clerk's office said.</p><p>Symbolic olive branch</p><p>A Sarasota ordinance has not yet been drafted, City Attorney Robert Fournier said, but supporters are pushing to mirror an ordinance after one passed in Orlando last year.</p><p>Much of the ordinance would be a symbolic olive branch — a recognition of domestic partners by the government — which progressive couples have lobbied for across the nation.</p><p>Many of the rights that would be delineated in the ordinance — hospital visitation, for example — already are afforded by a federal executive order or other means, Fournier said.</p><p>"Really in these local ordinances, I think probably the federal provision is going to achieve the same result," he said.</p><p>But a registry could make it easier for non-married couples to enforce their rights because the law would provide for individuals to sue in court.</p><p>There seems to be enough support to create a registry here.</p><p>"I think they've got a legitimate beef," Sarasota City Commissioner Shannon Snyder said. "What somebody's lifestyle or what their preference is — that's not what we're debating here."</p><p>Snyder, however, said he would like to see a county registry because it would unify provisions regionally and not just within city limits.</p><p>City Commissioner Paul Caragiulo said he would like to know more about how the registry would work, but said he supports the idea.</p><p>"I have some questions about what effect it has," he said. "On the surface, I think it is something that the city should support."</p><p>Commissioners will discuss a domestic partnership registry ordinance today at City Hall, 1565 First Street.</p>